Many of our
Halloween traditions come from ancient European harvest festivals. People celebrated the change of the seasons with 8 feasts throughout the
year. The two largest festivals were held 6 months apart. Beltane
celebrated Spring and rebirth and Samhain honored Winter and the coming time of
darkness. Legend has it that the "veil" between this world and the
spirit world is at its thinnest on Samhain. So it was during this festival that
these ancient people employed many forms of fortune telling - all in the hopes
of gaining some insight into the great mystery of their unknowable future. They
took a shot at predicting anything from the coming weather right down to who
they were going to marry. ........Not much has changed...........fast forward a
few thousand years to 1892. The Farmers Almanac has been handing out predictions
for 100 years! The Victorians have embraced the customs of many of the newly
emigrated peoples of Europe and Halloween parties are enjoyed by young and old!
The rules for proper entertaining were relaxed a bit on this night and guests
were treated with a playful evening full of games and laughter. Here are some of
the activities you may have enjoyed

Mulled cider and tasty treats may have been
served as everyone gathered around the fire for Ghost Stories

Unmarried people would attempt to take a
bite out of an apple bobbing in a pail of water, or suspended on a string.
The first person to do so was believed to be the next to marry.

Strings would be strung and woven all
around a room - 1 string for every 2 guests - Each guest would have to find
an end and start winding up the string to find their 'fate' at the other end
- the first to finish is said to be the first to wed.

Attempting to produce a long unbroken apple
peel was said to estimate the number of years you had to live. The longer
the peel, the longer your life expectancy.

Each guest may have received a sack of
beans or the like and then used one of these rhymes as they counted out
their fortune:

A large pumpkin was hollowed out and filled
with little sacks of goodies tied to ribbons. The ribbons were hung over the
edge of the top for each guest to choose one. On the count of three, the
guests all pulled their ribbon to find the prize on the end.

Anyone who looked into a candlelit mirror
at midnight on Halloween was said to see the image of their future
spouse.

Depending on your hostess,
you may have also received your fortune by means of a palm reading, tarot card
reading, numerology, tasseomancy or any number of similar oracular practices.
Tasseomancy is more commonly known as Tea Leaf Reading!